Cross Talk
Out of circle, out of magic
The story has it that once a centipede was happy until it met with a frolicking frog. When it saw the frog jumping in the air with only four legs, it thought it should be able to do the same since it had many times more legs. So the centipede wanted to give it a shot and that is when it started to hesitate. It tried to lift one leg, then another, but couldn't figure out which one was to come after which. In the end, the legs got tangled and the centipede couldn't even stand up. The short moral of the long story is that fewer legs can increase speed, but too many legs aren't a good thing.
That is an apt description of our political mess, which is growing legs. Political reforms, voter list, corruption, fair election, price control and now the crackdown on drugs, further complicated by the discursive discussions about Truth Commission, national government, National Security Council, banning of fundamentalist politics and trial of the war criminals. If the original intention of the change on 1/11 was to fix politics, politics has now left us in a fix.
Some of our politicians are in a hurry. For the right or wrong reason, they would like to see some kind of a change in their lifetime, a change that will bear the imprint of their greatness, the power and influence with which they have pulled the strings in our national politics. For the right reason, they probably want to see all their wrongs righted before they cross over to other side of the grave. For the wrong reason, they might still wish to complete their job and give one last push to send this country over the top.
So it appears that problems are growing faster than solutions. For example, some of the politicians are talking about the trial of war criminals and exclusion of a certain political party from the next election. No denying that these are legitimate claims. But do these claims come under the scope of this government? Why should an interim government bite more than it can chew? This camel has already taken enough straw to break its back.
The government is stepping out in various directions, which is likely to create the circumstances for it to become vulnerable, and when it becomes vulnerable it might mistakes, which in turn will diminish its strength. What will happen is easy to guess. A clumsy centipede will emerge from a leaping frog.
The real disaster is that the Election Commission and the government aren't speaking in one voice. It seems that one is trying to push back on another, instead of taking a unified position. The Election Commission wants the government to do it. The government agrees that it must be done but doesn't tell us if it will do it.
If we go by the rules, the Election Commission is responsible for the elections while this interim government is supposed to assist it. But why doesn't the Election Commission speak out whether it will conduct the election without the participation of a particular political party? Likewise, the government can initiate the trial of the war crimes, but it's not willing to say so in clear terms so that we know if it is planning to do anything. Neither side is doing anything. Both sides are sitting on the fence.
All it takes for the Election Commission and the government is to talk amongst themselves and come out with a common stance. They don't have to do everything at the beck and call of the politicians, specially the banning of a particular political party and the trial of the war criminals. These will start a whole new controversy to upset the rest of the plan.
Instead, the Election Commission can do one thing which might shut up some of the busybody politicians. It can ask them to give an undertaking, as one of the many conditions for going to polls, that when they come to power, whichever leader and whichever party it may be, they will ban fundamentalism and take up the trial of war crimes. It will be interesting to find out how many politicians will step up to it, and how many will back out.
Last Wednesday, the Chief Advisor said that his government had no business to discuss politics with the politicians. That's not true. He came to power to exorcise the politicians because they were possessed by demons which forced them to become mischievous and play foul with their own country. That can't happen unless the exorcist talks to the possessed.
It isn't the place for the Election Commission to talk politics for the same reason the referee shouldn't start playing the game. It should have a set agenda and rules of engagement to guide its discussion with the political parties. It should be about reforms, registration, voter list and election. The politicians must be reminded that if they buy into the game, they buy into the rules as well.
If care is not taken the government may stew in its own juice. Issues are being trumped up in the manner clever people start a street fight to divert attention from another incident. If this government fails to manage the elections, all its achievements will vanish like spurious magic. While the Anti-Corruption Commission does its job, the government and the Election Commission should consolidate and focus on the elections.
What works for the frog will never work for the centipede, and this simple truth is now at stake. If the government wants to chase every problem with a solution, it will step out of its magic circle. And once out of the circle, the magic will be gone.
Mohammad Badrul Ahsan is a banker.
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